Five days removed from a 3-0 shutout win against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Flyers really had no excuses.
Extra time to work on the system. Extra time to rest. Extra time to work on chemistry.
There was no momentum, no consistency or energy and the Flyers looked like a team that had played five games in five days, not taken five days off from game action.
The 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, a team now 5-1-0, looks admirable on paper. This was a team averaging nearly four goals per game and the Flyers held them to two. But those two goals came at costly times and the Flyers can certainly place blame on their lack of speed and sound play for that.
This is a team that prided themselves on back-to-back shutouts because they were 60-minute efforts. On Tuesday, a 60-minute effort would have likely meant another shutout, at least based on the timing of the two Dallas goals.
That was the primary problem. Not a single player can claim to a good effort in this game.
Yes, Sean Couturier scored his first goal of the season by going hard to the net. Yes, the Flyers generated 35 shots on Antti Niemi.
It wouldn't have made a difference. It was relatively easy night for Niemi. The Flyers had played a fairly decent first period before taking the final six minutes off. Dallas scored in the final minute of the period, then struck again in the first 11 seconds of the second.
Perhaps the only positives were that Steve Mason settled into the game nicely, making 30 saves on 32 shots. Additionally, the Flyers kept the NHL's best power play in the early going this season off the board in two attempts.
One game doesn't make a difference, and falling to 2-2-1 is hardly enough to look at October and signal another slow start.
But it was too much of an inconsistent and sluggish game for a team that had all that time off. And it is that kind of poor play, especially following a statement win against Chicago, that turns the discussion right around.
It was inexcusable. And now, they get to make a quick trip to Boston before returning home to face the Rangers, another team that has gotten off to a hot start. The tests continue for the Flyers, ready or not.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
